Photo: Courtesy of Sochaux
Ligue 1 side Sochaux and Philadelphia Union have confirmed the transfer of midfielder Vincent Nogueira to the Union.
Terms of the deal have not been released. However, a France Football report on Jan. 28 said the agreement was for a two-year contract. Transfermarkt values Nogueira at about $2.7 million.
“We’re very happy to have finalized the deal with Vincent and are looking forward to him joining his teammates in Florida for preseason,” Union manager John Hackworth said Thursday. “As a player who has captained a club like Sochaux for several years, we think he brings a lot of quality to our club individually and can be an important piece for our club going forward.”
Nogueira is a box-to-box midfielder with attacking tendencies. He has served as captain for the Ligue 1 side, who he has played professionally for since 2007. He has been a regular starter for Sochaux since 2011. This season, he has played in 17 games in all competitions, recording 1 goal and 1 assist and no bookings. That goal was scored on Jan. 25, a stoppage time equalizer against Ajaccio.
According to the release on the Sochaux website, Nogueira, who has spent his entire senior career with Sochaux, will remain in France for Saturday’s game against Nantes to bid farewell to fans. The release from the Union says Nogueira will join his new teammates at the team’s preseason camp in Florida.
PSP first broke the news of the Union’s pursuit of in the 26-year-old on Jan. 13. Since then, the Union have been working in negotiations to bring Nogueira to the Union for training camp, rather than have him join the team as a midseason signing.
BEST OFFSEASON EVER
+1 DOOP
It’s truly amazing how this off-season went from “F— this team!” to “HELL YEAH!!” in about a month. Very impressive. And I will stick by my earlier rants: If these players don’t work out, so what. I have seen this team attempt to get better, and that is all I wanted as a Season Ticket Holder. Well done Union! Is it March yet!!
to me, this is the biggest signing
I’m more excited about Maidana, because I think he fits our needs more.
It’s pretty cool to be in a position of being able to debate which of our three new DPs is the biggest deal though. 🙂
I may be alone, but I’d like them to play a traditional 4-4-2. Midfield of maidana-edu-nogueira-le toux with jack and casey up top.
I’d be perfectly OK with that lineup.
I would not be surprised if this was the formation for road games. A more defensive balanced formation to try and grind out points.
4-4-2 is not necessarily more defensive. Depending on the people and the way they play, the 4-4-2 can end up having the wide mids playing more like designated attackers than true mids. I would consider a 4-3-3 of Carrol-Edu-Nogueiras/Maidana-Casey-Le Toux to be considerably less attacking than a 4-4-2 of Maidana-Edu-Nogueiras- Le Toux/Casey – Jack.
Of course, the Union could play a more aggressive 4-3-3 by swapping out Carrol for Jack and moving Maidana into a #10 role so Jack could play wide forward.
My point is just that 4-4-2 vs 4-3-3 doesn’t always determine how attacking a lineup is.
Andrew…I too would like to see the 4-4-2 with that midfield lineup for about 5-10 games to see how they work together.
I would absolutely prefer this lineup, I tihnk it gets the most talent on the field at once.
4231 or 433 is best. Jack Mac starts up top. In the two striker formation, I don’t think Conor Casey can start nor last every game this season, and having 3 in midfield uses our talent there the best.
These 3 guys are all in prime years from an age standpoint. I couldn’t be happier. The FO clearly did some hard work to get these guys in and deserves nothing but praise
Agree much with the comments here. Even if we crash and burn, it will be hard for me to fault the FO for at least putting up. Excellent offseason. Can’t wait for March!
I agree that the F.O. gets some credibility back, but if we crash and burn they better have the balls to remove Hackworth. He got the players he wanted, and he’s promised us attacking soccer since he took over, so if this doesn’t work they gotta let him go.
So happy to see the Union stepping up like this. Pressure is really on Hackworth now.
This is the guy who interests me the most. Edu is a World Cup loaner. Maidana is a bit of a gamble. After a promising start to his career he has been bounced around from team to team getting lower and lower on the soccer totem pole
But Nogueura seems to be in his prime and hopefully here for the long run. Hopefully he will work out
Lots of shiny new toys. My only worry is can they gel and, if so, how soon?
I agree! With a 4-4-2, I would expect that Casey and Jack could spend more time getting fed in the box. Caseys size and Jacks poaching should be better utilized with the rebuilt mid-field.
An article on MLS.com has Hack saying Union will play a 3 man midfield with Carroll behind Edu and Noguiera, so either Casey or McInerney will have to sit. That just ruined my day. Carroll should only get off the bench for cup games, injury or when the final whistle has blown.
I wasn’t a big fan of Carroll’s last year either, but honestly, if we’re going to be playing an inexperienced CB with Okugo, it might make the most sense to have a defense-only shield in front of them. At least early in the season to see how the new pieces come together. Might have to play defense first again, until/if the offense finds its stride. It is nice to have enough players to debate who should be in or out though.
Agreed and hopefully Carroll will look better with better players around him. Also resting him once in awhile would not hurt either.
all positive comments!?!
is this unprecedented? as a reader of this site i fell like i’ve been in a desert for years and the oasis is real.
If it would make you feel better, I guess I could yell at you…
I still have many negative inklings about the team. And to be honest none of these signings have alleviated any of that but. But hey… wait and see right?
You must not be a very positive person if you don’t feel any better about this team. The Union lacked 3 major things last season: defensive depth, a central playmaker and a wide left-footed player (either LB or LM). We now have defensive depth, whether it’s Edu filling in as needed or the new rookies, we at least have players who have played there before. We got a central playmaker in Noguiera, Roberia in the draft, and a true box-to-box player in Edu. And finally we got a left-footed winger in Maidana. So with those additions it means a large part of our 2013 starting XI is now our bench, which instantly improves our depth. There’s no way of predicting how things will work, but the team is better now then they were October 31st.
Tannenwald is reporting (plus the wording of the official press release indicates) that Nogueira is NOT a DP.
That is interesting to say the least, did the Union get a bargain deal for him or are they paying it down with allocation money? Transfermarket had his value listed at 2.7 mil, or so I saw in an article. If it is true he is not a DP then the U get a little more flexibility to add more pieces.
according the the mls transfer blog, philly really played hardball to get the transfer fee way down. i read that initially they wanted 2 million but we talked them way way down.
My understanding is also that Nogueira will not be a DP. At least, that was the Union’s plan going into this. We’ll see how it looks once the league office signs all the final papers.
The three signings give the Union several different formations and lineups they can use that should be effective. A 4-4-2 Diamond mid with Carroll on the bench with Nogueira at the top and Edu above the backline and Seba and Choco on the wings with Casey and JacMac uptop. A 4-2-3-1 with Edu and Carroll paired together and Noguiera in between Seba and Choco with either Casey or Jack up top. A straight 4-3-3 with Edu sitting above the backline.
The mind goes crazy with the decent lineups we can roll out as apposed to the mind going crazy because either Cruz or Keon or both were starting!!
I think the Union just pulled off the best 2 week non-playing stretch since they started playing. I believe they have re-invigorated the fan base that was previously looking for blood. I haven’t been as excited for a season to start since 2011!
I’m really excited about Nogueira. On Sirius radio, I’ve heard French guy covering League 1 talking about him when transfer rumors surfaced. He gave him great recommendation, and said he was really surprised with the move to MLS as he though Noqueira could play for many other teams in French top flight. He described him as technically gifted midfielder, great with the ball and set pieces.
Yes! I texted Harkes that question so that Ian Holyman would give us his opinion! I loved his description of him as a typical “tidy” French midfielder.
I can’t help but be so excited about this season. It’s crazy to have so many positive thoughts.
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Here I have to change things, what if Keon or Cruz start on opening day?
The most excited I’ve been about this organization since it’s inception. Strengthen that back line and this team will do a lot of damage!! Now — the pieces are almost in place and it’ll take time to develop chemistry. John Hackworth this is your chance to prove to all of the nay sayers(including me ) that you are in fact a professional manager! GO UNION!!!
I wish I could spend the whole off season down in Florida. It would be great to watch these guys become a team. So glad the union are going back to Orlando.
I don’t know anything about the new acquisitions, so my questions will be answered on the field. My main concern is the personnel management moving forward as that has not been Hacks strong point. I was convinced at the end of last season we would be talking about Hacks farewell toward the end of this upcoming season. Crashing out of the playoffs left a bad taste in my mouth. All will be forgiven if the new additions pan out!
I am not overly excited as a team that is 19th of 20 teams, facing relegation and needing all hands on deck was willing to part with him. This tells me that he was expendable and may not be the impact player we are looking for!
I believe I read somewhere else that Sochaux had sold off many of its better players already in anticipation of relegation to reduce its wage bill once they went down. Trying to take a more positive view of his potential, Sochaux held off selling their captain as long as they could, but being 9 points deep into the drop zone and having just drawn with the last place team, they are throwing in the towel and getting whatever money they can.
Relegation appears to be a certainty for Sochaux, and I think they are parting with anyone of quality.
Ian Holyman, ESPN FC French correspondent said that he was a bit shocked that Nogueira would be going to MLS as he “could start for any League 1” team if he wanted.
I am sure the formations and lineups will be somewhat fluid until all the pieces fit and all the new bodies have been acclimated to the team and league.
Most folks seem to have Seba penciled in as a midfield starter. And the season may start that way, but I am not so sure. He did have a stretch of inspired service for about a month that drove him to the top of the assist chart, but as the summer wore on, the accuracy began to fall off and he didn’t finish the shooting chances he had.
I could Hack pairing Carrol with the three newcomers in a 4-4-2. which leaves no room for Seba as he does not pair well with Jack up top and Casey is a better holder and finisher.
He is a good forward option in a 4-3-3, there will be a lot of competition for that role should Hack go that way.
During the good stretch that LeToux had, he was starting on the right and Cruz was starting on the left. In fact, at 1 point the U was undefeated (like 5 or 6 games) when Cruz started on the left. LeToux’s role on this team will be provider and he can be that, however, he is much more effective from the right side. So, I think LeToux’s dip in form had more to do with Hactics then skillset, but I could be wrong.
I think le Toux’s dip in form had to do with his foot injury.
The two options aren’t mutually exclusive. 😉 He could’ve dipped because of tactics and the injury.
I am now officially GIDDY for the 2014 Season! All these signings and FREE PARKING for STHs, too 😉
I am still standing by that for me the Nogueira transfer is the lynch-pin to having the Maidana transfer actually work so he can play a more effective role in attack and not just in service.
I would like to see Hack run a 4-3-3 ( in possession ) and then 3-5-1 ( out of possession ). Playing with 1 striker ( Casey ) up top and being able to utilize his height/hold-up play and then having Nogueira roaming in the hole etc. Then you can bring in Jack when Casey starts to fatigue. I could see them run a 4-2-3-1 (in possession) as well. Anyway, good debate to have compared to last year wouldn’t you say? -DOOP